Democratic donors cross aisle to unseat Texas Supreme Court judges

Democrats raise cash to unseat justices in primary bouts

Sheridan and John Eddie Williams at the annual Bayou Bend Garden Party Sunday April 7, 2013.(Dave Rossman photo)

Sheridan and John Eddie Williams at the annual Bayou Bend Garden...

When Democratic donor and Houston plaintiff's attorney John Eddie Williams recently moved into a $10 million, 24,000-square-foot River Oaks mansion, a group of Houston trial lawyers threw him a house-warming.

Combined with an emailed appeal from Dallas Democratic trial lawyer Lisa Blue Baron for the same slate, Wednesday's event makes clear that Democratic trial lawyers are attempting to knock off conservative jurists on their own turf, the Republican primary.

The strategy is steeped in the tragicomic history of Texas's system of electing judges via partisan elections fueled by special-interest money from both ends of the political spectrum. In 1976, Texas voters mistakenly elevated Don Yarbrough to the Texas Supreme Court – apparently confusing his name with the legendary U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough. He ended up serving only one year of his term, spending the rest of it in prison for a murder-for-hire scheme.

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Nonetheless, efforts in the Texas Legislature to reform Texas' easily manipulated system of judicial selection have been sabotaged for decades by both political parties.

'Blind' justice sees cash

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Tom Phillips has advocated that Texas change its system of selecting judges, only to meet with political resistance.

"A lot of money changes hands in the civil justice system, which is presided over by judges," he said. "People are going to be interested in how they (judges) get there."

Phillips' views are shared by Mark Lanier, a prominent Republican Houston plaintiff's lawyer working hand-in-hand with the Democratic lawyers to unseat the incumbents this year.

"I think the partisan election of judges is the worst possible way to choose judges. I am not a fan, but I've got a responsibility to play in the system," he said.

Lanier was one of the official hosts of Williams' "housewarming," which benefited Balance PAC, a fund supporting challengers to three incumbents on the Texas Supreme Court: former Rep. Robert Talton, who is taking on Chief Justice Nathan Hecht; Dripping Springs lawyer Joe Pool Jr., who is facing Justice Jeff Brown; and 14th Court of Appeals Justice Sharon McCally, who is challenging Justice Phil Johnson.

"This is a broad coalition of Texans who believe the court has been taken over by multinational corporations," Balance PAC spokesman Eric Axel said. "The court has become afflicted with affluenza."

Axel said 74 percent of jury verdicts granted to plaintiffs are overturned on appeal. "If you are a corporation, you know you can win on appeal," he said. "This court is against the average person."

Tactic raises 'red flags'

Critics say the group is supporting unqualified candidates simply because they disagree with the Texas Supreme Court's conservative philosophy.

Hecht, Johnson and Brown are "exemplary conservative judges who have helped make the court one of the most respected in the nation," said Sherry Sylvester, spokeswoman for Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a powerful, business-oriented organization that has led the effort to limit lawsuits in Texas - and routinely supports political candidates with its anti-lawsuit philosophy. "The fact that Democrats are bankrolling their challengers in the Republican primary should raise red flags for everyone."

Two of the judges with Republican challengers - Hecht and Brown - will also face Democratic challengers in the November election. Hecht will face El Paso State Dist. Judge William Moody and Brown will face Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lawrence Meyers, who became the first Democratic statewide officeholder when he switched parties in December. Democratic Court of Appeals Judge Gina Benavides is challenging a fourth Texas Supreme Court Justice, Jeff Boyd.

But since 1994, no Democrat has been elected statewide in Texas. So far, none of the Democratic judicial candidates have collected significant campaign donations, though Benavides reported a $2,500 check from Houston plaintiff's attorney Amber Mostyn.

Lanier is involved in two other political action committees with a combined war chest of more than $300,000. His wife, Becky, is campaign treasurer of Christian Attorneys for Texans and Texans for Family Values. Democratic donors Baron and Williams each gave $50,000 to both entities.

The Christian Attorneys PAC has not declared which candidates it is supporting, but Texans for Family Values contributed $5,000 to Pool's campaign.

System called 'broken'

Lanier brushed off TLR's criticism, noting that many prominent Democratic trial lawyers have given to the incumbents, noting, for example, that renowned Houston plaintiff's attorney Joe Jamail gave $5,000 to both Hecht and Brown in November.

"I get friends involved no matter what side of the aisle they are on," he said. "If I see something broken, I have a responsibility to try and fix it."

Lanier freely admitted he was motivated, in part, by the court's verdict overturning a $7 million award to the family of a client who died of a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx, a drug that was taken off the market due to safety concerns.

He also cited an anecdote in which an opposing attorney refused to settle a case - even while acknowledging fact and the law favored Lanier's client - because he believed the Texas Supreme Court automatically would side with an insurance company.

"The Supreme Court is not supposed to make the law," Lanier said. "We need judges who will call balls and strikes."

Talton reported in January that the entirety of his contributions - $30,000 - came from Lanier or members of Lanier's law firm. He bristled at criticism that his candidacy has Democratic support.

"Those guys don't tell the truth," Talton said of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. He also said the incumbent judges "take money from trial lawyers."

'Intractable problem'

Like Axel, he faulted the current court for a high rate of overturned jury verdicts and claimed it engaged in "crony capitalism" by favoring corporations too often.

Baron sent an email urging fellow lawyers to reach out to clients on behalf of the Republican challengers. She suggested an email subject line: "Hey! The Texas Supreme Court has "affluenza" and favors country club crony Republicans."

Baron and Williams could not be reached for comment.

Gov. Rick Perry sent an email this week supporting Hecht, Brown and Johnson, whom he appointed to positions on the court. He warned that "liberal personal injury trial attorneys ... want to buy judges who would return Texas to the bad old days of Jackpot justice - huge and senseless jury verdicts that will bankrupt companies, take away jobs and ruin our economy."

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, who has supported judicial campaign donation limits and has called for a new system for choosing judges, said trial lawyers and the defense bar have fought to control the court's philosophy throughout Texas' history. If all judges were appointed, he added, those interest groups would "just get involved in the governor's race."